Be careful not to overthink your SEO strategy

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Being thoughtful is great. Without deep thinkers, humanity would never advance. However, with search engine optimization, I would tend to warn one about thinking too much. Recently, I witnessed a discussion on the popular WebmasterWorld forum which blew my mind. Word was out that Google had recently purchased new search engine technology created by an Israel student. Orion, created by Ori Alon, who reportedly was also hired by Google. This set off quite a bit of speculation.

The speculation may have been logically sound, but that doesn’t mean it’s timely or accurate. Alon said this about his search invention:

“For example, if you search information on the War of Independence, you’ll receive a list of related words, like Etzel, Palmach, Ben-Gurion,” Alon explained. The text will only appear on the results page if enough words relevant to the search and the link between them is reasonable. Orion also rates the texts by quality of the site in which they appear.

This small bit of text was analyzed with intensity.

In fact, the amount of research was incredible, considering that nothing was actually said. One internet pundit even found a 280 page PDF file that MAY have been related to the technology in question, and he suggested with all seriousness that it was required reading for anyone in the SEO business. Hold up! You want me to put aside all of my current tasks in order to spend the better part of 3 days reading and digesting a PDF file that MIGHT contain a scrap of information that MIGHT be contained in a search engine algo? This is pure madness, and is typical of what I see online.

Firstly, do you really need to know every detail of why search engines work in order to get a page to rank high? I say, nay, and have ample proof of this supposition. Secondly, if you do plan on studying the back-end technology that search engines are using, you need to be sure that what you’re reading is actually related.  There’s a wall of silence concerning what search engines make available, and it’s hard to believe that the answer can be found in online PDF files.

My advice is just to use observation as your primary SEO strategy.  Take a good look at the websites that rank ahead of you in the SERPS.  See if you can notice and patterns.  Examine their backlinks through all three major search engines and see if you can find a common thread.  Before long, obvious patterns begin to emerge, which can guide you in building new, high ranking documents.  Take your time and verify all of your results.  Most importantly, learn to ignore the advice that will only waste your time and focus, instead, on essential principles.  SEO is not rocket science, and you don’t need to pretend to be a scientist to achieve results.

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to the Sootle RSS feed!.